TEHRAN – Abundant historical mansions scattered across Iran, if restored properly as tourist lodgings, can bolster hospitality industry of the country that is steadily becoming a hot tourist destination.

The Revitalization and Utilization Fund for Historical Places provides ample investment opportunities for the private sector to cede historical buildings as long as they are repurposed into hotels, restaurants or lodging places, ISNA reported.

The sum of private investments in restoration of such cultural heritage structures has witnessed a staggering 449% rise over the past four years compared to the previous records, the fund announced in May.

In the latest row of such honors, Aminian Mansion and Vakil Caravansary in southern Kerman province were ceded to the private sector via auctions late last week, said Mahmoud Vafaei, the head of the provincial office of the Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization.

Meanwhile, Iran follows an initiative for building hundreds of hotels to jumpstart its tourism industry. It will inaugurate 20 four- and five-star hotels by the end of the current calendar year (March 20, 2018), a tourism official said in May.

PHOTO: An exterior view of Vakil Caravansary in Kerman province, southern Iran.

AFM/MG